Why we're bailing out Chitigroup and not the Big 3

No unions to bust.

It's also important, of course, to prop up the make-believe economy (the one that pushes paper around and talks on the phone) as opposed to the real one. You remember that economy, right? The one that actually manufactures things.

That''s what we all went to college for, right? So we could wear white-collar shirts and not blue ones, like our dads? Not get our hands dirty?

And just to put another miserable conservative talking point to bed: the reason the auto manufacturers are in trouble IS NOT because their employees get too generous a benefits package. It's because their overpaid management (GM $20 million, Honda $1 million) keeps turning out a product that no one wants to buy. There's also that little-known fact that cars built in the US have built-in health insurance costs, while cars built in countries like Japan or Germany provide health insurance to all citizens, or they're built in places like Mexico or Brazil where the workforces are non-union and don't receive any health care at all.

Which model will we move toward?

Turkey Week Wrangle

Here's the pre-Turkey Day edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly blog round-up, to be consumed while you bake your pumpkin pies, stuff your turkey, pack your bags, or perform whatever holiday traditions occupy your time.

jobsanger notes that some racists seem to think this election gives them permission to once again publicly display their sick beliefs, in "Racist reaction to the election".

The Texas Cloverleaf discusses the upcoming study that may result in a mileage based user fee rather than a gas tax for drivers in the US.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston reports the Texas Ethics Commission fines state representative Carl Isett $25,000.

BossKitty at TruthHugger watches, with the rest of the world, America: A Spectator Sport or Soap Opera.

Off the Kuff analyzes the precinct data for Harris County and declares the coordinated effort to get out the Democratic vote there a success, and that the Democratic base was everywhere you looked.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme claims the religious right exposes its dark underbelly with opposition to Prop 8.

McBlogger takes a moment to talk about the deficit, the economy and bailing us out. Because it's, you know, important.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the issues the Texas GOP is grappling with in the aftermath of thier massive defeats in The GOP brand is tarnished in Texas.

Barnett Shale radioactive waste is a bone-seeking carcinogen when airborne and has a 1622 year half-life, writes TXsharon at Bluedaze.

Environment and education have been greatly on the mind of the Texas Kaos community this week. Front pager TxSharon gave us a heads-up on Brett Shipp's expose of the Texas Railroad Commission on Bill Moyers Journal Friday, and diarist liberaltexan kept an eye on a Faith Based Initiative: Fundamentalist Religious Attack on Science in Texas.

Neil at Texas Liberal says that Galveston was a disaster before as well as after Hurricane Ike.

Vince at Capitol Annex poses a couple of questions about Tom Craddick's Secret Police and asks exactly why former state rep. and ex-deputy parliamentarian Ron Wilson is running around the Capitol with parliamentarian Terry Keel and serving as a media escort/hatchet man for the speaker.

The Texas Blue looks at how Tom DeLay's gerrymandering of the state has actually made Texas weaker on the national level than a fair apportionment would have.

The passing of Jim Mattox prompted some reminiscences from Texas bloggers and corporate media. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs assembled a few, ahead of Monday's memorial service.

How my precinct voted

Matt Stiles provides the data link; if you live in Harris County you can enter your precinct number and see how yours performed. As precinct captain I take great pride in these results:

Registered voters: 2,940
Votes: 2,133

72.55% turnout, well above the county average.

PRESIDENT
John McCain (R): 852
Barack Obama (D): 1,235

Forty-six of my neighbors voted for Bob Barr or some write-in candidate (or did not vote at all in the race for the White House). Obama carried my precinct 59-41.

U.S. SENATE
John Cornyn (R): 844
Rick Noriega (D): 1,133
Yvonne Adams Schick (L): 67

Noriega's margin of victory, 55.4%-41.3, almost precisely matches the statewide result in reverse (Cornyn carried Texas 54.82 - 42.83, with 2.34% for Libertarian Schick).

DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Pat Lykos (R): 894
C.O. "Brad" Bradford (D): 1,031

Bradford won 53.55 - 46.45 while losing the county (and the contest) 50.21 - 49.79.

COUNTY JUDGE
Ed Emmett (R): 987
David Mincberg (D): 967

Ah, the ticket-splitters are revealed.

COUNTY ATTORNEY
Mike Stafford (R): 837
Vince Ryan (D): 1,064

DISTRICT CLERK
Theresa Chang (R): 864
Loren Jackson (D): 1,025

SHERIFF
Tommy Thomas (R): 783
Adrian Garcia (D): 1,159

The sheriff-elect got 59.68 % to the incumbent's 40.32, a little better than his overall countywide margin.

TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR
Paul Bettencourt (R): 944
Diane Trautman (D): 949
Jeffrey McGee (L): 73

The only real disappointment among my precinct's results.

It would be interesting to know what the straight-party votes were, as well as the outcome in the SD-17 contest. But I need to stay busy for the next month getting Chris Bell into the Texas Senate.